Former West Ham Player Tony Cottee Hits Out at Club's Summer Decision as Form Nosedives

Former West Ham forward Tony Cottee has claimed that the club were wrong to appoint Manuel Pellegrini and should have kept David Moyes.

The TV pundit has criticised West Ham's board for missing an opportunity to create stability at the club after two turbulent seasons. Moyes had kept West Ham in the Premier League and Cottee thinks that the Scotsman was the right man to lead the Hammers this season.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Cottee said: "At the end of last season I thought, 'We have had two difficult seasons and what we need is a third season of stability.' We had someone at the club in David Moyes who could have done that but no, the board decide to go and choose someone else.

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"I just don’t understand the appointment [of Pellegrini]. I didn’t understand the appointment at the time. We should have kept David Moyes."

The former Hammer continued: “It is alright saying Pellegrini is a great manager but when you are managing Manchester City and have the best players in the world it is a lot easier than coming to West Ham and having to motivate the players. I don’t get that impression that he is going to motivate and inspire the players."

West Ham have had a difficult start to life under the Chilean and are yet to pick up a point this season. As a result of this poor form, Cottee says that he is concerned about the Hammers being drawn into a relegation scrap.

The 53-year-old said: "Absolutely I am worried it is going to be a battle to stay up. The next three games are absolutely vital. The ironic thing is if they were to get rid of Pellegrini they would be saying ‘We need a Sam Allardyce or David Moyes to come in and steady the ship’, which is what they had in the first place. It is absolutely ridiculous.”